Sparta school roofs deemed safe, students set return to class Thursday

SPARTA — All township schools will reopen Thursday after the district’s engineer found no structural damage on any of the roofs due to the buildup of snow and ice, officials said.

“We are safe to open,” Superintendent Dennis Tobin said.

All five schools had an early dismissal Tuesday and were closed today after ceiling tiles were found buckling in a classroom in the annex portion of the Helen Morgan School.

Because an initial inspection found possible structural failure on the roof, Tobin said he decided to close all the schools as a precaution.

“The same amount of snow and ice is on all of the schools,” he said.

Temporary supports have been installed in the classroom at the Helen Morgan School and that classroom will remain closed until repairs are made, Tobin said.

Custodians, maintenance workers and Sussex County jail inmates removed snow and ice from the Helen Morgan and Alpine schools today. More snow is expected to be removed from other school roofs Thursday.

In January 1994, the Helen Morgan School was closed for more than a week after a 600-square-foot section of its roof collapsed under the weight of snow and ice.

Sussex County Sheriff Michael Strada said four “low-level, non-violent” inmates from the Sheriff’s Work Assistance Program helped with the snow removal. Up to 15 inmates are expected to be available for work on Thursday, he said.